After working at the University of Rochester Medical Center for four years, he returned to New Jersey to work at Rutgers and, in 2009, joined the Cell and DNA Repository, a university-owned company that provides data management and analysis for biological research. .
Dr. Brooks became the company’s chief operating officer and discovered that he had a talent for the business side of science. He increased the company from just a few dozen employees to almost 250, working with almost every major pharmaceutical company, among other customers.
The coronavirus outbreak>
Words to know about tests
Confused by the terms about the coronavirus test? Let us help:
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- Antibody: A protein produced by the immune system that can accurately recognize and bind to specific types of viruses, bacteria or other invaders.
- Antibody test / serology test: A test that detects specific antibodies to the coronavirus. The antibodies begin to appear in the blood about a week after the coronavirus has infected the body. Because antibodies take a long time to develop, an antibody test cannot safely diagnose an ongoing infection. But it can identify people who have been exposed to the coronavirus in the past.
- Antigen test: This test detects pieces of coronavirus proteins called antigens. Antigen tests are quick, taking just five minutes, but are less accurate than tests that detect the genetic material of the virus.
- Coronavirus: Any virus that belongs to the Orthocoronavirinae virus family. The coronavirus that causes Covid-19 is known as SARS-CoV-2.
- Covid-19: The disease caused by the new coronavirus. The name is short for coronavirus 2019.
- Isolation and quarantine: Isolation is the separation between people who know they have a contagious disease and those who are not. Quarantine refers to restricting the movement of people who have been exposed to a virus.
- Nasopharyngeal swab: A long, flexible rod, with the tip of a soft cotton swab, which is inserted deep into the nose to obtain samples of the space where the nasal cavity meets the throat. Coronavirus test samples can also be collected with swabs that do not penetrate the nose so deeply – sometimes called nasal swabs – or oral or throat swabs.
- Polymerase chain reaction (PCR): Scientists use PCR to make millions of copies of genetic material in a sample. Tests using PCR allow researchers to detect the coronavirus even when it is in short supply.
- Viral charge: The amount of virus in a person’s body. In people infected with coronavirus, the viral load may peak before they start to show symptoms, if symptoms at all.
“Most of the scientists I know are not interested in, or are incidentally interested in, commercializing what they do,” said Dr. Jay Tischfield, professor at Rutgers and chief executive of the repository. “Andy understood that if you want something to come out and be used, you have to be a player. You cannot trust other people. “
In 2018, the company, then called Rutgers University Cell and DNA Repository Infinite Biologics, decided to go public, with Dr. Brooks as the new chief executive. The university agreed, but maintained a significant stake in the new company, now called Infinity Biologix.
The resources and experience he has accumulated in the repository made it relatively easy for Dr. Brooks to develop the coronavirus spit test, which he did in partnership with two other companies, Spectrum Solutions and Accurate Diagnostics Labs.
Dr. Brooks was used to doing genetic testing through saliva, and Dr. Tischfield said “it was not rocket science” to adapt these techniques to extract RNA from the coronavirus. The company still had thousands of tubes on hand that it could use to collect samples.
After FDA approval, Dr. Brooks faced a different challenge: scale. He needed a lot more equipment and staff, immediately, to produce the tests and process the results. But a conducive phone call from the White House offering help and a multi-million dollar loan from Dr. Tischfield allowed the company to add additional analytical equipment quickly and almost double its workforce almost overnight.